OPERATION: DECEPTION
The dark, mysterious and perhaps even dreaded fortress that houses Soundwave's current lab. Sure there were others before, and there will be future locations as well. Security demanded that locations were to be scrubbed, and the site destroyed...repeatedly. Mute is currently on his little operation table, which one could theorize, is where Soundwave repairs his Cassettecons, and probably made Americon while on that bender. Laserbeak and Ravage do their duty, ensuring that Mute constantly has eyes on him. Of course even if they weren't seen, it was assured that others were still watching him. Laserbeak had returned the favor by welding a few streaks across the prone and incapacitated form of Mute, and had left it at that. Knowing the cowardly buzzard, he expected far worse to come. Steps approach from the darkness. Soundwave himself. Impassively, he approaches the table, laying out several tools, wires and conduits for what is to come. He says nothing. Ravage paces back and forth, expecting trouble it would seem. Soundwave's_Lab(#10620Te) The interior of Soundwave's lab is little different than the outside. The black corridors with only a deepest hint of purple are highly polished and coated, only revealing its coloring under intense light. Rustproofing layer after layer to help ward off the acidic fog that permeates the area. Long, impersonal and dark corridors. Several high perches and trenches were designed in the base where who knows what could lurk. Deeper within lie tubes of sickly, pale green energy that dances through its hardened conduits, leaving a nauseating set of colors bouncing off the ultradeep purple walls. There simply must be a thousand monitors, bugs and sensors in here somewhere, if you're lucky enough to find them. OOCNote: Soundwave's Lab is hardened against +radio communications and the +autobot channel. Please refrain from using them unless plot demands otherwise. Contents: Harrow Mute As he did before, so Mute lies silent and unmoving. Though one has to wonder if this time he is preparing himself for what is to come rather than preparing to make the Decepticon interrogating him look like a fool. Though it would certainly please Mute to do that to Soundwave, he's not about to treat him like he did Snapdragon. And so the only activity on the little Autobot is the glow of his screen, as it continues to show three screens with random date which for anyone who may be watching appears to be constantly getting encrypted. Combat: Soundwave compares his Technical to 60: Success! Still as silent as before, in his words at least, if not his actions. Soundwave motions aside the hovercart, now droning with a low, eerie noise as it is pushed aside. Being an audio specialist, Mute can easily note that the droning pattern of the cart is intentional, and for those more susceptable, could regulate processing speed in the unwilling. Being aware of this and resourceful, Mute easily can ignore the cart. Perhaps for him, the cart is simply used for its intended purposes. Soundwave tilts your head to the side, a plug in his hand. He connects it into one of your ports, steps over to his workstation, and punches in a series of commands. The ceiling drops down a little, opening into a scanning node, which starts to slowly process Mute's personal schematics. Soundwave looks aside to Mute, though out of his range of vision, as if expecting something. There is a time to resist, and a time to wait. And this isn't Mutes first rodeo. Though he has never been at the mercy of Soundwave. Still time is not on the Decepticons side, Mute knows this. He knows that Blaster will be rounding up the trrops. That Ramhorn will be smashing things in frustration and soon smashing Decepticons. That Eject will be ready to provide the play by play of Decepticons getting their heads caved in. Rewind will be sharing all those intricate bits of trivia as to what those caved in heads remind him of. Steeljaw will be ripping and tearing Decepticons apart. Raindance and Grand Slam will be tag teaming various Decepticons. Spindrift will be demoliting every wall in the Autobots way. And sooner, not later, Blaster will be letting Soundwave know just where the limits are when the two fight. Till then, Mute concentrates on encrypting every thing in his data banks, and then encrypting it again. And again. And again. The Comms Officer simply does a series of diagnostics while Mute furiously works to protect his information, and maybe doing a bit of analysis on how Mute does his work, but that'll come together at the end, when everything falls into place. An hour passes, not a single word, not a single threat, not even a hint of pain. Eventually, the scanning stops, and Soundwave removes the Alligatorcon clips from Mute's neck. It is then that he draws out the dreaded laser scalpel. He raises it up before Mute so the Cassettebot knows exactly what is going to happen.... He does indeed get to work, a single surgical stroke. No pain accompanies the motion, though Mute may note his holographic capability has been reduced to a most meager display of light and noise. Energon flow itself is low, when he severs that single regulator. And with Mute's weapons already disabled, Soundwave has simply incapacitated the little Autobot. The table beneath you shudders, and then starts to float towards the back. Down tunnels, through rooms that hold a variety of tools and supplies. Soundwave seems utterly unconcerned about the entire display. Perhaps he wanted you to see some of his wares, or perhaps he's so confident that you could not escape. Laserbeak, Ravage, andRatbat all follow along, heeling without a word. He leads you and the table into a cell in the back, Immense, thick metal walls, reinforced again and again, with no exits. Barring the keypad that opens it from the outside, truly Soundwave himself could be imprisoned here if one was clever enough. But the moment is passed. Mute's table is lowered to the floor, into the dark room. The shadows of the three Cassettecons enter, with Soundwave's imposing figure at the door. The door closes. Mute's hand manacles unclasp, but not his legs. He can stand now if he desired, though not transform. Silence, except for his companions.... For three Cybertronian days, Mute is left here, low on energon, harassed, attacked, unable to defrag or go into sleep mode. When he nearly passes out, Ratbat supplies him with just enough energon to stay awake. And Laserbeak? Oh Laserbeak enjoys himself very...very much during this time... There's an odd reaction from Mute over the days. Like any Bot he does what damage he can while coping with three enemies all working together. But he's also patient. More so than some would expect from a cassette. He takes the attacks, sometimes barely responding to them beyond what physical reaction they force by sheer impact. But occassionally, at random, he's lash out. Specially at Laserbeak. Indeed it seems as though the buzzard is twice as likely to elicit a response, normally aimed at the beak, from Mute. But 3 days is, well, 3 days. But every time he is lagging, he thinks of another of his fellow tapes, and how as much as he is relying on them to come get him, they are relying on him to keep it together for when they arrive. The cell door opens finally, slipping into the ceiling almost instantly. Laserbeak nurses more than his share of dings, and eagerly evacuates the area, flying out over Soundwave's shoulder. Ratbat and Ravage simply slink out to heel behind Soundwave. Again wordlessly, he taps a button on the panel which causes your table to rise back up as before, and towards the Commander. Since you can sit up now and view more, the area before you is mostly dark, but almost certainly you are going back to the previous room. Arriving back into the chamber you are more accustomed to, Soundwave sets about repairing his minions over a few minutes, then graciously patches up the energon leak he gave you, as well as fixing your hologram generator to at least be functional, allowing you to communicate again. He steps aside to the console, eyes you for a moment, then starts to give his report.... <'Decepticon'> Soundwave has encrypted this channel. <'Decepticon'> Soundwave says, "LORD GALVATRON." <'Decepticon'> Galvatron says, "Soundwave, report." Despite being able to do so, Mute doesn't sit up. He remains motionless, almost enjoying the peace after the last few cycles. Rule one of being a prisoner, always try and escape. Rule two of being a prisoner, rest whenever you can. That he gets repaired is a curiousity, but Soundwave evidentally believes he can gain something from Mute. What remains to be seen. <'Decepticon'> Soundwave says, "AS YOU COMMAND. PREPARATIONS ARE COMPLETE. EXPERIMENTAL REPROGRAMMING OF FACTION ALLEGIANCE READY TO PROCEED. ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME: 4 CYCLES. ESTIMATED CHANCE OF SUCCESS: 53 PERCENT. IF SUCCESSFUL, WE WILL SOON HAVE STRIKE ACCESS TO ALL AUTOBOT CITIES ON CYBERTRON. AWAITING YOUR COMMAND, LORD GALVATRON." <'Decepticon'> Galvatron says, "You may commence at your discretion Soundwave. And you may also attempt to increase the chances for success. 53 percent seems on the low side for one of your skills." <'Decepticon'> Soundwave says, "AS YOU WISH, LORD GALVATRON." Soundwave said that entire conversation aloud, of course, so Mute was right there during the entire debacle. Soundwave returns to you, holding up what could be a holographic medical chart. He taps on the holodisplay a few times, and finally talks to you. "YOU'VE OVERENCRYPTED ALL AUTOBOT DATA REGARDING COMMUNICATIONS, DATA LINES AND COMMAND CODES 256 TIMES. IN THEIR CURRENT STATE, THEY ARE USELESS EVEN TO YOU." Soundwave pauses, "EVEN IF YOU DID SUDDENLY BREAK FREE, THE PROCEDURE TO SEND TRANSMISSIONS BACK TO THE AUTOBOT FRONT WOULD TAKE HOURS, YOU DO THIS INSTEAD OF ERASING THE ENTIRETY OF YOUR DATAPACKETS. ANALYSIS: YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN OF BEING FREED BEFORE A SINGLE BYTE OF DATA IS EXPUNGED." He sets down the chart, which flickers then dissipates. "HOW CERTAIN ARE YOU THAT YOU WILL STILL BE FACTION ALIGNED TO THE AUTOBOTS? ANALYSIS: CONSIDERABLY LESS." Thankfully all of Mute's data is backed up before he leaves base. And when Blaster was attacked he uploaded any altered files by standard procedure. As he always does. He's ready to die, he always is when he goes out alone or with others. But he will be rescued. He's alive, and so he will be recovered. Turning his head to look at Soundwave, Soundwaves own voice is recorded, snippets played back in a rather odd way as though being analysed and manipulated at the same time. All the while the waves on Mutes face reflect the actual soundwaves being heard (something few would notice or recognise, though Soundwave certainly would). Eventually a manipulated recording is played back. It's Soundwave, as perfect a copy as anyone ever could manage. Even Soundwave wouldn't be able to spot any flaws. "AUTOBOTS SUPERIOR, DECEPTICONS... INFERIOR." A smiley face then appears on Mutes facescreen. Soundwave coldly regards Mute's retort. "WE SHALL SEE, AUTOBOT." With that, he applies a stunning agent into the Cassettebot's frame, putting him into temporary stasis. The last thing Mute sees for the time being, is Soundwave turning his back, and Laserbeak's cold eyes upon him. Time passes. Time passes. Do Autobots dream during defrag? Mute awakens, Soundwave has his back turned again, "...AUTOBOT WILL BE IN PARTIAL STASIS UNTIL CYCLING CLEARS THE MAGNETIC PRESENCE. QUERY: NOTATE TO SHOCKWAVE TO SUPPLY SAMPLE OF DARK ENERGON FOR SECONDARY TESTING." Mute's head gets pulled back off the table a bit, Ravage is there, his big paw on your head, which gives you the upside down look at the room, unfortunately with the paralysis still active, your body feels so numb that you can't pull yourself up. The fact that you moved at all was new though, as if your restraints were gone. "PLAN KAPPA-SEVEN-FOUR ACTIVATED, AND GIVEN PRIORITY. END OF REPORT. Being aware of time passing is considerably more preferable to not being aware of it. How much time has passed, Mute accesses his internal clocks to get a baring. Where's Blaster. Has another mission taken priority. YEs, priorities. One tape can be sacrificed. One tape has to hold on. Can let Contrast down. Never let him down. Dark Energon? Unable to access even his own files on the subject without decrypting, Mute can't even speculate what Soundwave would want to do with that. There was something to do with Vector Sigma at some point. But that data would bew in one of the now very encrypted files. Should he access it. Would probably be that one... no, decrypting would take too long, and would leave other files vulnerable. Should encrupt again, avoid the temptation. Almost subconsciously Mute projects the image of another tape, one not seen in a long time. The tape looks over his brother curiously, then looks at Soundwave before addressing the Decepticon tape commander, "You know, he'll never talk. Which is odd for him cause he never used to shut up." Oddly Mute himself seems oblivious to his own projection. Soundwave regards the other tape's projection, then dismisses its worth almost instantly. "IT DOES NOT MATTER." The Tape Commander, his synthesized monotone almost hushed, "BLASTER WILL NO DOUBT BE ASSEMBLING A FORCE TO RAID STANIX FOR YOU SOON." He turns to look at the two cassettes, "HE WILL NOT FIND YOU." Soundwave walks over to another bench, barely in view, as he starts welding something or another. A few minutes pass on his end at least. "FINISHED. RAVAGE, RETURN." With that, Ravage shrinks into his cassette form, but does not seem to go into Soundwave's holder as usual. "LORD GALVATRON REQUIRES A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF SUCCESS." Perhaps he's actually explaining it to you? Why would he do that? "WHEN THE AUTOBOTS COME, THEY WILL...." Time nearly stops as he turns around slowly, revealing in his hands... A dark blue, patterened... frame.... with an... unique Autobot Symbol.... "LASERBEAK." Soundwave commands, and the vulture is all too happy to comply. On screen before you, is footage from Laserbeak's eyes, a live feed. And Mute... Mute is... just a head and lasercore.... Soundwave intones finally, "FIND YOU."